A Year's Worth

Life's A Beach


For those of you keeping track, we have passed the one year mark since the Pooklings made our small happy family into our Big Happy Family.  It was a lot of work, and it wasn't all easy, but it has been the most meaningful and worthwhile year of our lives.  There have been lots of laughs, about three thousand dirty diapers, not much sleep, and too many big memories to count.  Pookie and I really wouldn't have had it any other way. 

To our friends and family that have been a part of it, we are glad you could be here with us, you made the year that much better.

Pookie and I read a lot of blogs and websites when we found out she was carrying triplets, and they were a big help in the beginning.  Once we got settled in and Pookie went into Supermom mode, I think we did a pretty good job of keeping the kids out of the emergency room and ourselves out of the nuthouse (or rehab,whatever).  We have great families, great friends, and Pookie has been nothing short of a wonder.  If she had time, Pookie could write the manual on raising triplets.

If you are like us, with trips on the way and reading up some blogs to try to get an idea of what lies ahead, I'll share a few things I have learned:

- There are a lot of "experts" out there that don't know rat shit from rice crispies.  As soon as some people hear you are going to have multiples, they start saying things like "Just wait until they all start....blah blah blah."  They have no idea what your experience will be like, so don't let it worry you. 

- Women run on minimal sleep much better than men do.

- For dads, the real fun stuff starts when the kids begin to recognize you.

- You will wonder what you did with your time before they came along.  How could we have ever been rushed, or behind schedule?  What the hell were we doing all day?

- Hangovers and triplets do not mix.

- Babies R Us is actually a criminal organization run by the mafia to screw you out of every dollar you earn for the next three years.  There are a lot of great deals out there if you look, take some time and save your cash for fun stuff.

- Skip the parts in the baby books that talk about potential health problems that are beyond your control.  There just isn't any point, you'll be an expert in no time if something does come up, and if it doesn't there will be other things to worry about.

- Make sure you have a good camera, things move pretty fast.

- Fight the urge to say "No shit, Captain Obvious"  when someone makes a "you must have your hands full" comment.  People comment because having trips, twins, or even one baby is a big deal, and they just feel the need to make some sort of acknowledgement.  You will hear comments far ruder, save your zingers for those people.  They deserve it, and they'll never expect it from happy smiling parents with three kids in a stroller.



Enough preaching, on the the fun stuff.  We had the McTrips One Year Birthday Extravaganza on Jan 14th, and it was a great time.  You will notice in the pictures that Pookie and I have a lot of friends, and a lot of our friends have kids the same age.  It was babies from wall to wall.

You can't have a birthday party without balloons.  Shit, I should have put that in the preachy instruction manual part above.

Notice how clean the chairs (and the wall) are here.  Not for long.

Declan's cake.

Stella Bella's

Reidster the Speedster's

Pookie's Rice Crispie Snowman Army.

Now, messy babies and lots of friends and family.

Just like his dad.

Declan loves him some cake.

Stella having a pizza appetizer.

I think we counted 15 babies in the house at one point.  Good thing we live in a palace on 40 acres, it could have gotten crowded.

Babies.....

How was that Broncos / Patriots game Jay? 

My Grandma Elva, my little Meatball and I.

Reid the next day.  Still loving the balloons.

The pictures weren't from the party, but I thought I'd throw them in anyway.

Stella and Big D in their tunnel.

Reid looking thoughtful in front of the tunnels.  He is finishing off a short novel at present, and this is the picture I think he should put on the dust jacket.  He looks like a guy who knows what he's talking about.  Or something.

Declan and Stella.  They're buddies.

The Trips and their best buddy in the ball pit / living room.

Shortly after the kids' party we packed up and went to Hawaii for a couple weeks.  Somebody had to.

Pookie, Papa Jeff, Declan, Stella, Reid, Gramma Tamma, Grampa Leo, Funcle Dusty, Julie, and Funcle Joe all loaded up and flew the unfriendly skies with Air Canada all the way to beautiful Oahu.  We rented an awesome house, had a ton of laughs, and were joined on week two by our friends Andy and Celine.  The kids loved it, and nobody wanted to come back. 

The back yard.  Damn right.

Pool time.  Dusty wore that hat voluntarily, in case you were curious.

Dad and Bella.

 Pookie and Declan.

Stella taking me for a walk.

The kids' tent in the back yard.  They love that thing.

Dusty doing some baby dunking.  This proved to be a very popular game.

Lunch by the pool.  The ants never had it so good.  Food literally rained from the sky.

Speedster playing in the mirror.  Pass the windex.

Me doing some lifeguard training runs, not unlike Baywatch. 

Stella having a popsicle and a stretch.

Pookie and Declan chilling in the pool.

Killing time at the mall in Honolulu on our last day.  Boo.

Everyone had a great time on the trip, it was a great chance for all of us to get away for a couple weeks, take a pause and enjoy the end of a crazy year.  Thanks again to Tammy and Leo, you are far too generous and we appreciate all you did to make the trip possible for everyone. 

The best part of the trip was finding out that the Pooklings will soon have a cousin!!!  Congratulations Ryan and Julie, we couldn't be happier for you!  I can't wait for my kids to teach your kids all the swear words they have heard around our house.


Keep fit and have fun kids.